Expert: Whitestag - 4/3/2007

Question
I use a charcoal grill. About the only foods I've grilled are fajitas and ribs. I cooked a couple rib-eye steaks recently and ruined them. They were tough and dry. I assume I over-cooked them in an attempt to make medium-well. I want to cook my wife a steak that she'll fall in love with. Can you give me some tips on the best steaks to use, how to spice or marinade them, and best way to cook them, i.e. time on grill, new fire or after coals have whitened. Any info is appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Answer
Sorry for the delay -- for some reason i never got your question.

Depends on your wife's tastes.  I tend to be minimalist with my own steaks, but my wife likes them spiced up a bit.  I've used a dijon mustard coating and a poivre rub (cracked black pepper in olive oil) with good results.  

As for getting steaks done to the proper degree without ruining them, use a meat thermometer.  You can get electronic thermometers (Polder is a well-known brand) that allow you to stick a probe into the meat and run a wire from it to a digital readout outside your grille.  Such thermometers come with a listing of internal temperatures for desired doneness.  Time on the grille depends on the thickness fo the steak.  For a typical 1" steak, I would expect that it would take no more than 8-10 minutes/side to get medium well - well done.  I've grilled sirloin, porterhouse/t-bone, shell, and rib steaks, all with good results.

Rather than briquettes, I use lump charcoal, which burns a bit hotter.  I never use lighter fluid -- I recommend a chimney or electric starter.  Color is irrelevant with lump charcoal -- all you want is for the coals to be live.

Hope this helps, and again, sorry for the delay.